Progressive Agriculture 47 



illustration of the effect of ample timely tillage on 

 a crop of corn. This was grown on the C. B. & Q. 

 farm at Holdrege, Nebraska in the drouthy years 

 of 1910. The ground was double disked early 

 and kept cultivated to hold moisture and keep out 

 the weeds until about May 10, then planted with 

 a lister, after which an effort was made to keep 

 the surface loose and allow no weeds to grow, the 

 ridges were worked down reasonably early before 

 the corn was knee high. Although the rains were 

 very few and far between before the corn was 

 tasseled and ears well out, yet cultivation followed 

 closely after each rain. Had there not been a 

 liberal amount of moisture in the soil at the time 

 of the first disking, the result of ample fall rains, 

 we could not have grown the crop so completely. 

 Now compare No. 19 with this crop, these two 

 fields are on the same level prairie and on adjoin- 

 ing quarters, only about 30 rods apart. No. 19, 

 had the same amount of liberal moisture in the 

 soil in the spring, but no disking, plowing or any- 

 thing else was done to this field until the corn 

 was listed in, at which time there was a liberal 

 growth of weeds averaging about 6 inches high. 

 The loss of moisture by direct evaporation and 

 what was drawn out by the weeds reduced the 

 moisture to that degree that the July drouth got 

 the corn and by the tenth of August there was 

 practically nothing green in the field, scarcely a 

 tassel made its appearance. Did the weather 

 make this wide difference? Yes, in a way, the hot 

 weather and little rain dried up and ruined No. 

 19, and the same weather caused No. 18 to grow 

 and mature, but timely tillage made it possible. 



